1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to power-driven transporting apparatus for moving a plurality of articles in succession from one place to another. More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus for conveying banks of film discs supported on respective spindles and for spacing the conveyed spindles to prevent the banks of film discs from contacting each other.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A film disc intended for use in a modern compact-type camera is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,194,822 issued Mar. 25, 1980. The film disc has a central aperture and includes a plastic hub member, concentrically disposed about the aperture. The hub member is permanently attached to the film disc and has a keyway for securing the hub member to a keyed spindle received in the central aperture.
To process a number of the film discs, for example using the film processor disclosed in the patent application cross-referenced above, the film discs are supported in substantially parallel hub-to-hub relation on the keyed spindle and the spindle and the film discs are rotated in processing solution about a common, generally horizontal axis. A pair of circular end caps on the spindle hold the film discs snugly together in their hub-to-hub relation. One or both of the end caps are slidable along the spindle to secure selected number of the film discs on the spindle, and one of the end caps is removable from an end of the spindle to permit loading or removal of the film discs onto and from the spindle. When held on the spindle, the film discs are spaced slightly apart, generally by the thickness of the hub members. Such spacing provides a compact arrangement of film, yet provides sufficient solution access to the imaging areas of the film discs for processing.
The present invention is directed to apparatus for conveying banks of film discs supported on respective spindles to various photofinishing equipment, such as the film processor disclosed in the cross-referenced patent application. A review of the conveying art of which I am aware, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,979,799 and 3,221,867, led me to conclude that such known conveyors are not suitable for conveying the banks of film discs. In these conveyors, a number of articles are conveyed in succession on moving endless chains or sets of rollers. If it is desired to stop the leading, i.e., forwardmost, article on the conveyor, a stop member is positioned in the path of the leading article to block its further movement. The conveyor continues to move, which causes the succeeding articles following the stopped article to accumulate one immediately behind the other against the stopped article, until the stop member is removed. When article accumulation occurs in this manner, appreciable article-damaging back pressures can build up (unless the conveyor is temporarily stopped). Moreover, such article accumulation, especially in the example of conveying the banks of film discs, can cause the conveyed articles to engage one another, possibly damaging sensitive surfaces of the articles, such as the engaging areas on the film discs, and usually necessitating disengagement of the articles before resuming conveyance.